Syracuse University
at #8 Massachusetts
Valiant Men's Lacrosse Comeback Halted by Zywicki's Overtime Goal
4/30/2005 3:23:52 PM | Men's Lacrosse
AMHERST, MASS. -- UMass senior attackman Jeff Zywicki collected his own rebound and scored the game-winning goal with 3:10 remaining in overtime as the No. 8-ranked Massachusetts men's lacrosse team (11-2) defeated No. 7-ranked Syracuse (7-5) in front of 3,428 at Garber Field. The goal put an end to a furious five-goal comeback by the Orange, who fought back from a 13-8 deficit with 12:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.
SU actually had the first chance to win the contest after winning the faceoff at the start of the sudden-death overtime period. Junior attackman/midfielder Brian Crockett's shot hit off the far pipe and sailed into the UMass offensive end of the field. Zywicki controlled and took a shot from the left side. His shot was saved by Syracuse senior goalie Jay Pfeifer, but the rebound popped out and Zywicki was there to put away his third goal of the game.
The Orange played without starting defensemen Scott Ditzell and Kyle Guadagnolo, who both missed the game due to illness. Junior transfer Ed Warszycki started at close defense along with regulars Steve Panarelli and John Wright.
Syracuse actually started the game with a two-goal lead (3-1). Crockett and junior attackman Brett Bucktooth (two goals) each scored within the contest's first eight minutes. By the end of the quarter, the Minutemen had stormed back to take a 6-3 lead. Gene Tundo netted two goals during his team's five-goal run.
The Minutemen continued to create unsettled situations, win faceoffs and ended up outscoring the Orange, 3-2, in the second quarter to take a 9-5 halftime lead. UMass won 10 of 15 faceoffs in the first half.
During the third quarter, Syracuse cut the Minutemen's lead to three goals (9-6) after Crockett tallied his second goal of the game off an assist from freshman Mike Leveille at the 6:58 mark. That would be as close as the Orange would get after Sean Morris and Pat Larmon registered goals to give Massachusetts an 11-6 lead. The five-goal deficit was Syracuse's largest of the season.
Sophomore midfielder Steven Brooks scored once more for Syracuse with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter to pull the Orange to within 11-7 with 15 minutes remaining in regulation.
Ryan Connolly scored a goal and then assisted Brett Garber on a man-up opportunity with 12:58 remaining in the fourth quarter to match UMass' largest lead of the day (13-8). Senior midfielder Jarett Park who had a game-high seven groundballs, kept Syracuse hanging around. He finished with two goals and an assist and started the Orange's comeback bid after intercepting a pass and going right to goal. His score with 8:14 remaining in regulation cut UMass' advantage to 13-9. Crockett, aided by a Bucktooth pick, curled around the goal and used a jump shot to score SU's 10th goal with 6:47 remaining. Brooks found junior midfielder Greg Rommel up top to pull the Orange within two goals (13-11) with 6:09 left. Rommel sent a blistering shot to the upper left corner past Bill Schell.
During this spurt, Syracuse was aided by Danny Brennan's performance at the face-off stripe. The sophomore won the last five draws of the game.
UMass coach Greg Cannella called timeout with 1:20 left in regulation as Syracuse held possession. Out of the huddles, Leveille was assigned the ball and drove hard to the cage from the right corner for his first goal of the afternoon and SU's 12th. With 1:15 left, the Orange trailed 13-12.
Brennan won the next faceoff and Syracuse coach John Desko called timeout with 1:06 remaining. This time, Leveille faced a double team and dished off to Bucktooth who tied the game at 13-13 with 28.4 seconds remaining in regulation.
Leveille finished with a team-high five points (one goal, career-high four assists). Bucktooth ended up with his second-straight four-goal game. Crockett recorded his fifth hat trick of the season (third straight).
In goal, Pfeifer finished with 12 saves, while Schell had 10.
This was Syracuse's final regular-season game. The Orange will now await the announcement of the 2005 NCAA Championship selections, which is scheduled to take place Sunday, May 8, at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNews.
